Kiss Mayweather-Pacquiao Goodbye

Let's make one thing perfectly clear. Regardless of how some people scored the fight, Floyd Mayweather did a masterful job in dethroning Miguel Cotto on Saturday night, in what I consider one of his best ever nights. Yes, there have been better performances in the past from Mayweather - his ring artistry in the Corrales and Gatti fights remain his signature performances - but this may have been his most complete performance in showing both his offensive and defensive brilliance. However, despite Mayweather chalking up his 43rd career win, against zero losses, you could say May 5th was the night that finally ended any and all hope of this generation's defining fight involving boxing's biggest and boxing's best, between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacqiuao.

Prior to Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather was in pole position so to speak, with regards to the ongoing saga that is Mayweather versus Pacquiao and in particular, how the fight would actually turn out. Boxing has always been full of triangle theories - if fighter A beats fighter B and B beats C, then surely fighter A beats fighter C. Of course, as any boxing enthusiast will tell you, there is a styles dynamic to boxing that doesn't always allow the sport to work in this manner. Nonetheless, before Saturday night, Mayweather would have been a clear favourite over Manny Pacquiao, based on his dominance - and Manny's lack of - in besting Juan Manuel Marquez.

As we all know, Floyd prides himself on how he managed to master Marquez with relative ease, whereas Pacquiao somewhat struggled with the very same Marquez across three fights. Agree or disagree, I believe it's Mayweather's way of establishing dominance over Pacquiao, without actually having to climb into the ring with him. To further my point, I believe that Miguel Cotto was specifically chosen as Mayweather's opponent on Saturday night to further enhance his percieved domination over Pacquiao - if Mayweather fared better against Cotto than Pacquiao did, then he would have even more reason to claim superiority over his Filipino rival. Bragging rights would well and truly belong to Mayweather.

As we all know by now, things did not quite go according to plan. Like I said earlier, I thought Floyd was brilliant on Saturday, especially in taking the fight to Cotto. However, because Mayweather put on one of his most aggressive displays in recent memory, you could say he may have won the Cotto battle on Saturday night, but he may have lost the Pacquiao bragging rights war. More importantly, events on Saturday night could result in never seeing Mayweather and Pacquiao in the ring together in a competitive way.

Mayweather's wish list.

Make no mistake, Mayweather would have loved nothing more than to top Manny Pacquiao's -12th round stoppage - winning effort over Miguel Cotto. This is why we saw a Floyd Mayweather who threw nearly 400 power punches - almost more than the average number of total punches Mayweather usually throws in a 12 round fight - against Cotto. Mayweather also nearly threw in excess of 700 total punches, a huge output for the normally conservative Floyd Mayweather. Undoubtedly, Mayweather was going for the knockout on Saturday night. The fact that he didn't get it may have resulted in irreversible damage to the ego of maybe the most egotistical sportsman currently walking the planet. As good as I thought Mayweather was on Saturday night, apart from a brief moment late in the 12th round, Mayweather never really looked close to stopping Cotto. Manny Pacquiao on the other hand, managed to hurt Cotto on numerous occasions. Against Mayweather, Miguel Cotto fought as if the trophy at the end of the fight would be his life. Against Pacquiao, Cotto appeared to run for his life.

On Saturday, Mayweather hit Cotto with some really spiteful punches, particularly his overhand right and left uppercut combination. Yet Cotto remained undeterred. On the other hand, Pacquiao inflicted damage upon Cotto even with glancing blows. It's not hard to imagine what Floyd Mayweather must be thinking right now is it?

I consider Saul Alvarez to be one of the hardest punchers in boxing - nobody knocks out the ever durable Carlos Baldomir with a single shot without possessing some serious fire power. Saul Alvarez - who must have weighed around 165 pounds on fight night - hit Shane Mosley with some truly terrible shots on Saturday night. Alvarez was throwing bombs, and I mean...bombs. Shane Mosley's response? He walked right through them. Let's go back to Shane Mosley's fight with Manny Pacquiao. Early in that fight, Pacquiao landed a left hand on Mosley that did not appear to be that big of a punch. Mosley went down. His response upon beating the count? Mosley fought the rest of the fight in survival mode, and then claimed Pacquiao was the hardest puncher he ever faced. Mayweather, who was hurt big time himself in round two against Mosley, didn't really come close to stopping Sugar Shane throughout their bout.

Again, if Floyd believed there was something suspicious with regards to Manny Pacquiao's punching power before May 5th, one can only imagine what he maybe thinking now.

Suddenly, it's Manny Pacquiao who now appears to be in the driving seat. A quick glance at their respective results against common opponents suggests this;

* Pacquiao was more dominant over Mosley than Mayweather was. Unlike Mayweather, Pacquiao scored a knockdown and was never hurt himself.

We know Floyd Mayweather thrives on his own perceptions - there is no doubting, he believes his own words. When he says he is the greatest of all time based on the notion that he has never lost a fight, whereas fighters like Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali have, rest assured he believes it. Before Saturday, Mayweather believed he was superior to Pacquiao because of what he was able to do to Marquez in contrast with what Pacquiao was unable to do to Marquez.

It is no secret that before May 5th, one of the biggest stumbling blocks that stood in the way of making the mega-fight a reality was Mayweather's obsessive allegations that Pacquiao's weight jumping exploits were not legit. Now ask yourself, are we really any closer to the fight becoming a reality? During the post fight interview, Mayweather again mentioned Pacquiao's name, claiming that Pacquiao is refusing to take the test. So we are back on the testing protocol are we? Last week it was the purse split, the week before it was the arena, the week before that it was the lawsuit.

The point is, we are probably now further away from the fight becoming a reality than ever before. The fact that Mayweather could not stop Cotto, and Pacquiao could and that Alvarez, a huge junior middleweight could not put Mosley on his keester and Pacquiao could, will further enhance his beliefs that something is awry. On a personal note, I believe Mosley saw every one of Alvarez' shots coming and was able to take the mustard out of a lot of them, whereas Pacquiao caught Mosley on the blindside - it's the punches you don't see that hurt, remember.

Nevertheless, Floyd Mayweather truly believes that something is amiss with regards to Manny's freakish power as he likes to say. In reality, Pacquiao hasn't scored a knockout over anyone weighing 147 pounds or over, yet we have heard Mayweather boast about how unnatural it is for a featherweight to be knocking out junior middleweights.

I've always felt Pacquiao's style, not power, would be very problematic for Mayweather. Yet after Saturday night, I think Mayweather's strength could be more of a deciding factor than I first thought - Mayweather was like a venus flytrap in tying up and man handling Cotto at close quarters. After Saturday night, I now view the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight a lot closer, after originally believing Manny would have the upper hand.

None of this really matters though, Floyd had already, it is quite possible, made up his mind before May 5th that the fight was never going to happen. The events of May 5th have only but enhanced this notion. The fantasy fight that we all crave, will forever remain just that, a fantasy.

Let's remember that Pacman fought a weight drained Cotto who was still recovering from the criminal assault at the hands of Cheaterito. Against Mayweather we saw a healthy Cotto. But what we did learn about Mayweather is that it's a stetch for him to fight at junior middle, he simply doesn't have the punch against bigger men. So Money May has few options if he wants to continue his ring career. Alot depends on what happens with Pac/Bradley, Ortiz/Berto. Money May knows he needs to fight again before year end as his meter is running down. He needs a dance partner for Nov 2012, its gonna be the best performing welter who calls him out.

MisterLee says:

I also think Compubox didn't count much of Cotto's body attacks, and his small hooks, jabs, and uppercuts inside. All good. The system, the HBO crew, and many viewers are biased. imo. I had Cotto winning 7 or 8 rounds to 5 or 4 for May. Cotto pushed him on the ropes, and when Floyd tried to push his way back to the center of the ring he was wrestled and pushed and sometimes thrown/grappled back there. I like Cotto's hard jab, his sustained body attack, and sudden flurries that worked with Oscar.

Radam G says:

PacMan fought a Miguel Cotto, PERIOD! And KAYOED him! No darn excuses for Mayweather's weak-a$$ performance against Cotto. What was wrong with Redcoat Ricky Hatton, who Da Manny kayoed faster than Lil' Floyd. OOPS! I musta' fo'got! Pops Joy May conducted a Bluecoat comspiracy against the man he called Slicky Ricky.

The Cotto-Mayweather fight-contrary to Oscar dela Hoya's statements prior to May 5th- exposed MoneyMay more than it did Pacman. This article clearly put it in detail. It's unfortunate we're not going to see the mega fist fight happen.

Radam G says:

Compubox is a bunch of incompetent bullsh*t that misleads naive fans and fanfaronades. You have darn prejudice and bias human beings pushing buttons.

There is no need for this. Especially when you can put nano computer chips in the pugilists' gloves, so you can get a perfect count every time that a blow is struck in the counting area with the correct amount of punching power from the chips sending the true-blue proper contact to the computers. The human clown-_sses are counting air punches for their favorite fighter. And, as MisterLee spitted, no punches for whom the counters don't like or are bias against.

It is time to step up the technology and throw away ancient-a$$ Compubox and its dumba$$, cheating a$$ counters. Holla!

bongC says:

Weight drained? When a fighter agrees to a fight, catch weight or not, he knows what his options are and the risks involved. In Cotto's case it's the training and preparation that mattered. When he fought Manny he gambled at the thought that Pacman, going up in weight, would considerably be slower than he thought.

vjoe says:

If "the fight" ever takes place, the referee will be critical. If Floyd is allowed to hold like he did Saturday night, then I think he'll have the edge. But if the referee decides to enforce the rules (imagine that) and disallow or penalize holding, Pac will be all over him. (btw..I wonder how much better Cotto would have performed against PBF if he hadn't been held all night.)

MisterLee says:

Word up compubox sucks. I also feel Pedro Diaz was one of the important factors in Cotto's success and the game plan/defense, and also getting over the Marg fight, and more importantly not having Jo(k)e Santiago in the corner, tho no excuses, Pac beat cotto fair and square and would it again, styles make fights. Cotto could never use the same game plan on Pac b/c he's way too hard of a puncher and fast. I do think this Cotto would be more game agst Pacquiao. I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch IF pacquiao gets past Bradley, but I think Bradley will outbox him. pc!

gpike says:

This article has it totally wrong. Mayweather is more firmly in the driver seat than he was before. He beat a strong, resurgent Cotto who was bigger and weighed significantly more than him on fight night. He beat him clean. He showed more heart, grit and determination than we've ever seen from him and on a night when Cotto seemed to want it as badly as a man can want something, Floyd wanted it more. Pac is an easier fight for Mayweather than Cotto. Once he fends off the initial barrage of punches and he will, Pac will become the basically one-dimensional, extremely hittable fighter he is--Jab, jab left. And lets remember he hasn't beat Tim Bradley yet, which feels like its going to be harder for Pac than anybody expects. Little fast guy just like him who wants it bad. Floyd didn't stop Cotto (didn't really have to) but he could very well stop Manny (IF they ever fight). Big If.

saguirre760 says:

Let's remember that Pacman fought a weight drained Cotto who was still recovering from the criminal assault at the hands of Cheaterito. Against Mayweather we saw a healthy Cotto. But what we did learn about Mayweather is that it's a stetch for him to fight at junior middle, he simply doesn't have the punch against bigger men. So Money May has few options if he wants to continue his ring career. Alot depends on what happens with Pac/Bradley, Ortiz/Berto. Money May knows he needs to fight again before year end as his meter is running down. He needs a dance partner for Nov 2012, its gonna be the best performing welter who calls him out.

Man you guys have to quit! Cotto was not weight drained! Cotto weighed in @ 146 lbs in his previous bout vs Clottey; that is why Cotto AGREED to fight @ 145 lbs. And Manny would destroy the version of Floyd that showed up last Saturday. Btw I'm no Pacquiao fan!

saguirre760 says:

I also think Compubox didn't count much of Cotto's body attacks, and his small hooks, jabs, and uppercuts inside. All good. The system, the HBO crew, and many viewers are biased. imo. I had Cotto winning 7 or 8 rounds to 5 or 4 for May. Cotto pushed him on the ropes, and when Floyd tried to push his way back to the center of the ring he was wrestled and pushed and sometimes thrown/grappled back there. I like Cotto's hard jab, his sustained body attack, and sudden flurries that worked with Oscar.

CompuBox was way off; I think HBO fabricates the number to manipulate viewers; just look at the JMM vs Pacquiao fight!

amayseng says:

Compubox may as well be counted by monkeys because that **** is never right

the Roast says:

@bongC, vjoe, and gpike. First of all welcome to TSS. Good comments, good to see some new people in here. One thing. If you're gonna make an impact around here, you gotta have better names. Let the Roast suggest these changes. bongC becomes Bong Hit. vjoe becomes Violent Joe. gpike...gpike...hmmm....Godspike! Or just take Manboobs the Great. That name hasnt been used for awhile.

JEK says:

Thank you gpike!! I'm glad someone else saw the same fight, and pushing someone into the ropes and leaning on them equates to the same thing as holding, stopping your apponent from punching you. I also agree on Mayweather being in control. The problem is that Arum knows once Manny, who's defense is average at best (Marquez fights), I say average because he was hit over and over by Margarito, who throws a slow but consistant power punch, and "ANYONE" that can be hit period by these type fighters, will be destroyed by Floyd. Manny is Arums cash cow so when Floyd makes him look ordinary and he will, that will be the end of the so called legend, then they will say Floyd waited until Manny got old.

JEK says:

saguire760 - I guess you'll say Deladummy was'nt weight drained either! If Manny truelly wants to fight Floyd, let him step to him, not his manager or trainer. Let him step up and tell his promoter to make the fight, otherwise your right the fight will never happen!!! Manny "the catch weight champion" Pacquiao will be an easy target for Floyd (who has a great chin). So, he's the one that needs to start talking like he wants to fight, because unlike his other fights, the pre-fight interviews wont be a love fest with a lot of hugging and compliments. "Step up Manny".

saguirre760 says:

Oscar was weight drained but that is his fault for fighting at WW; you can't diminish Manny's accomplishment especially because he was the underdog going into that fight and he still beat the pulp out of Oscar in a much more convincing manner than Floyd. Manny doesn't talk madness like Floyd,he fights; Manny wiped out the WW division years ago. Floyd just fought Cotto last week; remember Cotto, Pacquiao's leftovers? So I guess your right and Manny has no skills; has no speed, no power, no chin and gets lucky in most of his fights,...lol. Man give props to Manny; I don't like Floyd cuz he has avoided most of this eras WW while in their prime but he is the best defensive fighter of this era and second best fighter of the decade. Manny's southpaw stance would expose that shoulder roll defense of Floyds; that is why Floyd has avoided the fight and defamed Pacquiao with no proof.